"'Check Six' is an aviation combat term, the opposite of 'Twelve O'clock High,' in that while the latter meant danger looming ahead, 'Check Six' meant 'look behind you,' as an enemy plane could be closing in on your tail. Never was this warning so valuable as during the Pacific War, which was waged largely by U.S. and Japanese aviators, the skillful fighter and bomber pilots on both sides deciding entire battles by themselves. On the American side there were no mission limits for a pilot in the Pacific during World War II; unlike in Europe, you flew until it was time to go home. So it was for James 'Jug' Curran, all the way from New Guinea to the Philippines with the 348th Fighter Group, the first P-47 Thunderbolt outfit in the Pacific. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, in which Japanese pilots nearly wrecked the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Curran volunteered to try flying in the blue yonder, and trained as an Army fighter pilot. He got his wish to fly the P-47 in the Pacific, going into combat in August 1943, in New Guinea, and later helping start the 'Black Rams' fighter squadron. The heavy U.S. Thunderbolts were at first curious to encounter the nimble, battle-hardened Japanese in aerial combat, but soon the American pilots gained skill of their own, and their planes proved superior. Bombers on both sides could fall to fighters, but the fighters themselves were eyeball to eyeball, best man win. ... This is also a tale of perseverance, as Jim Curran flew over 200 combat missions, and with the men of the 348th Fighter Group proved the Thunderbolt's great capability as they battled their way against a stubborn and deadly foe"--Dust jacket.